Robinson was a strong amateur chess player. He represented Oxford University in a friendly match with a team from Bletchley Park in December 1944;[11] in which he lost his game to pioneering computer scientist I. J. Good.[12] He was president of the British Chess Federation from 1950–53,[13] and with Raymond Edwards he co-authored the book The Art and Science of Chess (Batsford, 1972).[14]